Just hours before a potential government shutdown, the U.S. House of Representatives pulled off a last-minute save! 🏛️🔥
On Friday, lawmakers passed a stopgap spending bill to keep the government funded until mid-March. The vote? An overwhelming 366-34 in favor! This means more time for everyone to negotiate new spending plans and avoid a federal standstill.
But wait, there was some drama! 🎭 Earlier in the week, the House introduced a massive 1,500-page bill aiming to keep things running until March 14. It even included a whopping $100 billion for disaster relief and an extra $10 billion to support hardworking farmers. 🌾💪
Then, President-elect Donald Trump swooped in with a plot twist! He wasn't feeling the bipartisan vibes of the bill and called for \"a streamlined spending bill that doesn't give the Democrats everything they want.\" He also wanted to bump up the debt ceiling terms. 😱
Cue the scramble! House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republican leaders hustled to create a Plan B: a slimmer 116-page bill. This new version kept the funding going until March 14, included the disaster relief and farmer aid, but cut out some policy stuff from the original. Plus, it extended the nation's debt limit through January 30, 2027, like Trump requested. 📝✂️
But on Thursday, the revised plan hit a wall. Some conservatives didn't want to raise the borrowing limit, and Democrats weren't on board with last-minute debt ceiling changes. It was back to the drawing board! 🛑
With the clock ticking, Republican and Democratic leaders put their heads together. Just six hours before the shutdown deadline, they reached an agreement and passed the new short-term funding bill. Crisis averted! ⏰🤝
This isn't the first time Congress has had to buy more time. Because of ongoing political tussles, they often pass these short-term fixes to keep the government running. Remember late September? They passed a bill to extend funding from September 30 to December 20. 📆
For now, the government stays open, and lawmakers get a bit more room to sort things out. Stay tuned for the next chapter in this political saga! 🎬
Reference(s):
U.S. House passes stopgap funding bill aimed at averting govt shutdown
cgtn.com
